Reel Zombies (2008) Reviews

• Great zombie fun.

  Corpus_Vile2010-05-05

  What do you do when a zombie apocalypse destroys society and your way of life? If you're a self-centered shallow git like wannabe schlock filmmaker David J. Francis, (The director, playing himself) you get your self centered egomaniac friends to help you conclude the third part of your zombie franchise "Zombie Night", which were shot before the outbreak. Francis and co figure that they can get that gritty real life feel to their film, by utilizing real undead zombies. And if they happen to be temperamental, well the show must go on. The only problem is, what constitutes talent among the bunch could be written on the back of a postage stamp, with room to spare... Reel Zombies is awesome fun, with funny naturalistic performances and some laugh out loud scenes as things go from bad to worse for the crew of incompetents. One of the most original zombie films I've seen lately, it's proof positive that having next to nothing for a budget is no excuse to make a bad film. A very entertaining hoot from start to finish it's well recommended for any zombie fan. 8/10

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• A new twist on the Zombie genre...

  imdb-108512009-03-28

  I saw this film as part of the 'A Night of Horror Film International Festival 2009' in Sydney. Reel Zombies is a 'mockumentary' set in the near future when zombies have taken over the earth, and a follows a group of filmmakers who capitalize on the situation by making a zombie movie. When you think about that, you can begin to see the comedy potential - and it's there in spades! Mike Masters - playing himself as the director - sees himself as 'ahead of the game' because Hollywood production has dropped to zero since the 'real' zombie incursion. "Yeah, but after a zombie outbreak, whose gonna wanna go see a zombie movie?" asks one of his cohorts. Similar pieces of gold are scattered throughout. Real zombies are wrangled and used as cheap, expendable extras saving on make-up and gunshot effects, and preproduction meetings are interrupted by excursions to the outside parking lot to kill a few 'strays' that have wandered in. I won't spoil it any further! Suffice to say, a must-see for fans of the zombie genre for its high originality. A couple of downers: the pace struggles a little here and there, nothing too serious, and Mike Masters' overuse of the 'f-word' seriously detracts from the comedy at times and actually would have been much funnier without it. I'm not a prude, it's just that saying 'f**k' a lot simply isn't comedy - give me something smarter, please! Besides that, I enjoyed this film very much.

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• Reel Zombies = real funny

  jackd1970-12009-04-01

  Caught this film at the Dendy the other night and was blown away. I knew the concept going in, but what I didn't expect was the quality of the film. The trailer doesn't really do a good job demonstrating that this film is not a sequel to the other films in the series, but rather a completely original fake documentary about the behind the scenes of a film. As far as this genre goes, I've never seen a funnier zombie film. It's funny on every single level. The best part of the film is by far the performances. In hearing the director speak about the film, apparently most people are playing themselves (which playing oneself can be the hardest role to play) and these guys play it off perfectly. The two standouts are by far the two leads, Dave and Mike. A kind of ying and yang of film production. One overwhelmingly positive, the other, extremely negative. Despite that, both characters have a common goal – to make a good film. The supporting cast is equally strong. A grizzly bearded zombie wrangler (complete with hockey stick) and a Lloyd Kaufmann cameo as an aspiring actor is hilarious. I only wish they had have used Lloyd in the film more as he really seems at home here. Some people may not like the shaky camera-work, but I thought overall it was very effective in really helping to sell the look these guys were going for. It's grainy, dirty and at time a little dizzying, but it really brings you into their world. This film is a real crowd pleaser from start to finish. As most films do, it has a few minutes that could probably be cut from the 2nd act, but all of that is forgiven when the film ratchets up to a very strong climax that sees everything come together (or fall apart in this case) I was one of the many who enjoyed this film immensely and would highly recommend it to any fans of the zombie genre. I'm hoping to catch the first 2 on video if I can find them.

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• Great Movie!

  iflegg2010-12-05

  What a great idea for a movie definitely an original concept, which is something hard to come by these days in movies. It took time for us in Canada to be able to see this movie; thank you Super channel; this was worth waiting for. You actually forget you are watching a "movie" and get right into what is going on to produce this!! Fantastic actors & actresses Very Realistic they just portrayed natural characters and the cattiness between a couple of the girls was Very funny because; well lets face it we can be catty. Would love to buy a copy to watch it repeatedly. This is not a movie for children to watch but I would let my 16 year old see it.

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• Reel Zombies = Brilliant !!!

  ZombiGod2009-07-24

  I saw it at the Fantasia Film Festival in Montreal on July 22nd 2009 and if i resume it in one word : BRILLIANT !!! Story During a real Zombie Plague, the team that made the worst Zombie Movies ever Zombie Night and Zombie Night 2 : Awakening see the incredible opportunity to make a Zombie movie with REAL Zombies and that will finally bring 'em recognition. The plot is original. Makeups are decent. Actors are themselves, which is true and funny. I really had a great time watching this one. I saw hundreds of Zombie movies so far, and it seems that Zombie-Comedy are being made over and over again. So there is a lot of 'em in the Zombie world. I mainly like my Zombie movies Serious. Because to me, Zombies are supposed to be SCARY. But when a Zombie Comedy is good ... It is good. So many that are so bad, and a handful that are great. REEL ZOMBIES is among that handful of great Zomedies. The problem nowadays is that there is so many Backyard-Low-To-None-Budget-Indie Zombie movies made, that it really plagues the world. And what people say to defend their movies ? We had no budget for that movie. We made what we could ... Sometimes or often ? it's not enough. And believe me that i rarely have sympathy for a Bad movie because it had no budget. I agree sometimes, money can help. It's like in life. If money isn't the core of happiness, it helps a lot. But it's not the main thing. So here is my point : Talent makes good movies. And David J, Francis got talent. All his team are dedicated to make the best movie possible. Like many other filmmakers. And you know what ? I don't care !!! They can be the best people in the world and it doesn't matter to me ... If a movie is bad : It's bad ! ... But REEL ZOMBIES is totally brilliant !!! Not because they are great people. Not because they made the best they could with Shoe-String Budget. No. It's brilliant for it's innovation. There is so many few movies that are as original as REEL ZOMBIES. And i'll have to say, the last ones were 28 Days Later, Shaun Of The Dead and The Zombie Diaries. The problem here is that so many people hated Zombie Night and Zombie Night 2 : Awakening, that they will say REEL ZOMBIES is bad just based on the bad reputations of the first two movies, which i really enjoyed by the way. But REEL ZOMBIES deserve a chance. To me, it's ranked among the best Zomedy i saw. It has classic slow moving Zombies. It's funny, gore, great characters, good story. Let's say it can be a mix between Rec and Shaun Of The Dead. David J. Francis, Mike Masters, Stephen Papadimitriou and their team made a Brilliant movie. Why REEL ZOMBIES makes me say it's Brilliant ? It just transcend the Zombie Movie Genre. It goes beyond that. It makes you appreciate the world of Indie movies. Not amateur. Professionals. Real Proffessionals that worked with very little money, but with passion and great ideas. If you like Zombie Night 1 and 2, you will like it. If you like Shaun Of The Dead, you will like it. If you like Zombie Diaries, Rec, or Diary Of The Dead, you will like it ! And if you hated Zombie Night ... I'm sorry for you guys but you will LOVE REEL ZOMBIES ... It's sad for you, but it's a great possibility !!! ~ZG.

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